Regulator for incandescent electric lighting systems



(No Model.)

.0. J. VAN DEPOELE. REGULATOR FOR INGANDESOENT ELECTRIC LIGHTING SYSTEMS.

Patented Aug. 11, 1885.

N, PETERSv PlmwLilhn n nar, Washillglon. D. C.

UNITED STATES CHARLES J. VAN DEPOELE, OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS.

REGULATOR FOR INCANDESCENT ELECTRIC LIGHTING SYSTEMS.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 328,981, dated August 11, 1885.

(No model To all whmn it may concern:

Be it known that I, CHARLES J. VAN DE- POELE, a citizen of the United States, residing at Chicago, in the county of Cook and State of Illinois, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in a System of Electric Lighting by Incandescence, of which the following is a specification, reference hein g had therein to the accompanying drawings.

My invention relates to new'and useful improvements in controlling the electric current in a system of incandescent lamps operated in a series of groups, enabling me to run any number of such lamps from a high-tension machine.

The aim of this invention is a reliable and practical mode of operating a large number of incandescent lamps from a generator supplyin g current ofa higher tension than is usually employed for that purpose. By this system a comparatively small conductor can be used to convey the current from place to place.

The main diliiculty experienced heretofore has been with the current-regulators, which having been made of wire or carbon variable resistances, worked by automatic or hand regulators, the making and breaking of their contacts tended to oxidize said contacts and render the apparatus uncertain in its operation, besides being rather cumbersome and expensive.

In my system I use a vessel containing liquid, and in this liquid is plunged one plate which is in connection with, say, the positive pole of the conductor supplying the current to the lamps, while the negative pole of the supplying-conductor is in electrical contact with a suitable conducting-plate suspended above the liquid in which the positive plate is immersed. The suspended contact-plate is so disposed as to present its edge on an incline eontainin g a few drops of sulphuric acid, the

surface of which should be covered with a layer of some nondrying oil so as to prevent evaporation. Further means can be provided for keeping the level of the water constant.

As shown, the suspended plate is actuated and controlled by a movable core and solenoid, which latter is in multiple arc with the lamps, and is wound with a helix having a resistance exactly the same as that of each individual lamp, so that any fluctuation of the current felt by the lamps will at the same time be felt by the solenoid and communicated to its core.

When any portion of a group is cut out of circuit, the remaining lamps and solenoid will temporarily have to carry more current, which will cause the solenoid to correspondingly draw in its core, thus lowering the suspended plate more and more into the liquid, and diverting from the lamps the surplus current which would make them too brilliant and endanger the filaments.

The liquid, as shown in the drawings, is, like the solenoid, in multiple are from the "lamps by means of the movable plate F and the stationary plate H. Thus the current which cannot pass through the lamps on account of their being out of circuit will b e shunted through the liquid without increasing the light in the lamps left in the circuit.

The following is a description of my invention, reference being had to the annexed drawings, forming part of this specification:

Figure 1 shows a number of groups run in series from a high-tension machine, each group provided with its regulator. Fig. 2 shows the current-regulator on a larger scale.

In the accompanying drawings similar letters indicate like parts.

A is a thnm b-screw. B is a spiral spring attached at its upper end to a nut, b, which engages the thumlrscrew A. From the lower end of the spring B is suspended an iron core, 0, which hangs partly within, and is actuated by, a solenoid, I). From the lower part of the core 0 hangs a contact plate, F, of lead or other suitable metal. This plate is wider at one end than at the other, so that it will present its lower edge obliquely to the liquid that may be placed below it. The solenoid D is connected with the negative pole J by wire J and to the positive pole J by wire J placing it in multiple arc with thelamps. A disk,

the insulated conductor I. L is a cover to the from the core 0, and around this is soldered the contact-plate F.

E is a conducting-wire connecting F with the positive pole of the apparatus, (indicated by J.) M is a suitable vessel, of glass or other desired material. G is water rendered slightly better conducting by the addition of a few drops of acid or salt. H is a plate of lead, which is immersed in the liquid G and connected to the negative pole J by means of i vessel M, and to it are attached the solenoid l) and the contact-regulating devices. K is the electrical generator; 1, the positive and N the negative pole of the same.

As shown in Fig. 1, there are nine groups of lamps, numbered, respectively, 1 2 3 4 5 t3 7 8 9. All these groups are connected in series by proper conductor, and each group is provided with an automatic current-regulator, It. (Shown in detailin Fig. 2.) Each group has also a switch, S, by means of which the whole of the lamps in that group can be short-circuited whenever they are not needed. 1) and a of each group are the positive and negative binding-posts or terminals to said group. i t i are lamps. Each lamp can be cut in or out of circuit, as shown in the drawings, by means of a plug or switch. The lamps at O are out of circuit, while those at O are in circuit.

On cutting lamps into circuit the solenoid loses power, and the spring lifts the core up higher, retracting it from the solenoid, and at the same time raising the suspended contactplate out of the liquid, till a balance is obtained. On the line, any group or several can be short circuited simultaneously, and the increase of current will be compensated for at the generator by any of the known ways, keeping the intensity as even as possible, whether one group or all are in operation, while the electro-motive force shall vary according to the number of groups in operation. One of the great advantages of this system is, that the current-regulator is so sensitive that in any group all the lamps but one may be cutout without endangering the last lamp.

It will be understood that the economical way to run the lamps is to have the same all in operation in each group. However, through the action of the regulator when a few lamps only are left in a group, the resistance between the immersed plates of this group is correspondingly lessened from what it is when all i the lamps are burning, thus keeping the resistance of this branch constant.

lhe regulator is further intended to protect the lamps in each group from a sudden rise of current from any cause, which might otherwise destroy the lamps. 111 case the filaments of one or more lamps in one group should be destroyed, the remaining lamps would have to carry all the current, and the filaments in the other lamps would be greatly endangered were it not for the regulator.

The resistance between the immersed plates diminishes as they tend to come closer together by the cutting out of all or a portion of the lamps; but as the lamp-branch is then certainly of higher resistance than when all the lamps are burning, the solenoid D, being parallel with said lamps, will lower the plate farther into the liquid, which then compensates for the change and keeps the total working-resistance of its branch constant.

Let us now consider the operation of the regulator as applied to a group of, say, ten lamps, the entire group, including the solenoid, being connected parallel with each other-that is, in multiple arceach lamp representing one hundred ohms of resistance and will need a current of, say, ten amperes for the ten lamps. As long as the current remains constant, or the number of lamps in the group remains the same, it would be useless to shunt current through the liquid, and the tension of the spring is adjusted accordingly. However, on cutting out thelamps the plates will be brought correspondingly closer together, until, when all the lamps are out and the plates have moved as near together as the adjustment of the parts will allow, the resist ance of the liquid then between the plates will be ten ohms, and all the current will pass through the regulator-branch, being divided between the liquid and the solenoid D. hen all the lamps have been cut out of any group, it will of course be most economical to shortcircuit both the lamps and the regulator. Also, whenever one or more groups are shortcircuited the instantaneous rise of current may endanger the other lamps and destroy the same before the main-current-regulating device can respond. In this case, also, the regulator in each working group will take care of its lamps.

What 1 claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is-

1. In a system of electric lighting by incandescence, a series of groups of lamps or other working-resistances arranged in multiple are, each group being provided with a regulator consisting of a solenoid in multiple are from the lamps and suitable intervening mechanism controlled and operated by said solenoid, and adapted to divert more or less current through a .tlnid or liquid bypass in case of danger to the lamps, substantially as described.

2. In a system of electric lighting by incandescence, a series of groups of such lamps all in circuit with a generator of electricity of proper current strength provided with automatic regulation, each group of lamps being also provided with means, as described, for automatically shunting more or less current through a branch or derivation from said lamps, the branch consisting of water slightly acidulated, substantially as described.

3. In a system of electric lighting by incandescence, a series of groups of lamps, substantially as described, each group including an automatic device consisting of a movable contact operating through a conducting-fluid and actuated by a helix through which the current circulates parallel with the lamps, to allow a larger or smaller portion of the'main current to be shunted through said fluid, in order to maintain the normal brilliancy of the lamps in each group, whether one or all of the lamps therein are in operation, as described and set forth.

4. In a system of electric lighting by incandesccnce, a series of groups of lamps placed in circuit with a proper generator of electricity, each group being provided, first, with a hand-switch for cutting the lamps out by giving an easier path through said switch than through the lamps; second, an electromagnetic device consisting of a solenoid and core, said solenoid having the same resistance as each individual lamp in said groups, and placed in circuit parallel with said lamps; and, third, with a bypass or branch through a liquid consisting of acidulated water or its equivalent, the amount of current diverted from the lamps through the liquid being regulated by means of two properly-connected cond uctin g-plates arranged to be brought closer to or farther from one another while immersed in thefluid by means of the above-named solenoid, said conducting-plates being connected one with the positive terminal of its own group and the other with the negatiy e terminal of the same group, substantially as and for the purpose herein specified.

5. In a system of electric lighting by incandescence, the combination of a multiple-arc group of such lamps with a solenoid operating aliquid by-path, said solenoid having the same or nearly the same resistance as each individual lamp, and being connected parallel with the group, a vessel containing acidulated water in which the conducting-plates connected parallel to the groups of lamps are arranged to be approached or withdrawn from each other by the action of the above-named solenoid, according to the amount of current flowing through the lamps in each individual group, and a hand-switch by means of which the current can be entirely diverted from the lamps when not needed, substantially as de scribed.

6. In a system of electric lighting by incandescence, Where the lamps are placed in a series of groups, a current-controller consisting of a solenoid placed in a derivation from the lamps of a group, said solenoid acting upon a core to which is attached a contact-plate suspended over a vessel containing acidulated water, and a second contact-plate so arranged and disposed that whenever the current in the lamps becomes abnormal said core will either raise or lower the suspended contactplate, thus allowing more or less current to be sent through the lamps in its group, in order to keep their brilliancy constant, substantially as described.

7. The combination, with a group of workin g-resistances arranged in multiple arc, of an automatic current-regulator therefor, consisting of the fixed plate H, liquid Gr, movable contact-plate F, and supporting disk or frame T therefor, constituting a bypass parallel to the group, and a solenoid also arranged and connected parallel with the group, a movable core mechanically connected to the plate F, and an adjustable tension-spring for modifying the action of said core, substantially as set forth and described.

In testimony whereof I hereby attix my signature in presence of two witnesses.

CHARLES J. VAN DEPOELE.

Vitnesses:

AARON K. STILES, THEO. P. BAILEY. 

